On a spiritual level, as human beings, we took so many hits in 2017, we are still reeling. It is hard to stay grounded when you are in a whirlwind of trouble. No sooner than one disaster would hit, and you hadn’t even recovered, another one would barrel down on you, almost crushing you.

Hurricanes and floods in Texas, Louisiana, Florida, Puerto Rico. The Florida massacre. The Las Vegas Massacre. Wild fires here in California, which have caused mass evacuations. Now a train derailment in Washington. The looming nuclear threat from North Korea. Then the Biggee: The Tax Cuts. This is just to name a few catastrophes in the U.S. news, which knocked you off your epicenter in 2017. Many of the people who have been affected by the floods and fires are probably still not in their homes. How do they adjust to this new normal? How do we, as human beings, get through these life-changing events without remaining in a perpetual state of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder?

Well, for one, I pray. I’ve never prayed so hard. I’m now remembering a song from my late mother’s old church. “I know, I know that prayer changes things.”

There is going to be a shift in consciousness. On a mass level, people are going to start praying. I believe in the power of prayer.

We can do battle with prayer. With God, “All things are possible.” Matthew 19:26. Ask for the direction to take to heal, to recover, to overcome. Matthew 7:7. “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.”

As artists, we write, we paint, we sculpt, we make music. Let us continue to do so. We capture these moments in history in our work. That is our legacy.